Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Berlin commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Jobs and income earn Berlin B; getting around on foot earns it C. There are 393 jobs in Berlin; 733 of its residents have a job. About one in seven work in Berlin; the top destination outside it is Albany (12%, 22 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Income, poverty and work: Berlin’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Berlin is better than 58% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Berlin’s grade up (2.2%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Berlin could be anywhere from C to A−.
Berlin on a workday afternoon
On a workday 630 residents head out to work, 103 work right here, and 290 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Berlin on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Berlin’s working residents head each day
Where Berlin clocks in
12% of workers
7% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
69% of the jobs in Berlin pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Berlin, 2013 → 2023: 377 → 393. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Berlin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Berlin: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Berlin workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 920 commuters (the 13% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Short hops and long hauls from Berlin
About 17% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Berlin is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Berlin is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 4.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,056 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.2% of Berlin households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Berlin’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Berlin ranks: 1,729th of 5,760 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Atlantic Beach NY | 1,723 | $166K | 1.8% | 3.1% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,727 | Springvale Township MI | 2,122 | $102K | 3.2% | 4.9% | 1% | B |
| 1,728 | Genoa NY | 1,782 | $93K | 6.6% | 1.2% | 10% | B |
| 1,729 | Berlin NY | 1,695 | $80K | 6.6% | 2.2% | 14% | B |
| 1,730 | Brookfield VT | 1,276 | $99K | 6.3% | 0.0% | 5% | B |
| 1,731 | Genoa OH | 2,167 | $66K | 7.7% | 2.4% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Berlin, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Berlin and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Petersburgh (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Berlin workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berlin | – | B | C | 33 min | $80,313 |
| Petersburgh | 3% | B− | D | 30 min | $77,692 |
| Sand Lake | under 3% | A | C− | 25 min | $120,089 |
| Stephentown | under 3% | C+ | C | 28 min | $88,617 |
| Poestenkill | under 3% | A | D | 25 min | $126,250 |
| Grafton | under 3% | B− | D− | 33 min | $100,809 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Berlin’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Berlin: questions
What is the median household income in Berlin?
$80,313 (±$25,327) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Berlin?
6.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Berlin?
33 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Berlin work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albany (12%, 22 mi), Colonie (7%, 22 mi), Bennington (6%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Berlin walkable?
Berlin is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 4.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Berlin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Berlin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Berlin
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.